Young Researcher Feels the 'Dance of the Dead'

WASHINGTON -- A young cancer researcher who presented his study about DNA damage and diesel exhaust here also won an international piano competition and will perform at New York City's Carnegie Hall.

He's also still in high school.

Michael Xiao, 15, a student at Karl G. Maeser Preparatory Academy in Lindon, Utah, is not the youngest person to publish a scientific study. That title went to Emily Rosa of Colorado in 1998, who, as an 11-year-old fourth-grader, devised a single-blind protocol that debunked "therapeutic touch" or the ability to feel a person's aura.

But Xiao is the first high school student to present at the American Association for Cancer Research meeting, and maybe more importantly, among a very select group of scientists who show abilities far beyond their years.

"I wanted to help better society. Maybe I wouldn't be as good as the other researchers, but I wanted to make an impact at this time," he said earnestly.

Even his favorite piano pieces, he says, have an echo of cancer, like Liszt's "Totentanz," which translates to "The Dance of the Dead."

"It exemplifies the kind of pieces I like to play," Xiao said. "The piece has a very intense tone to it, a serious tone. In a way, it can be related to cancer, very intense. We have to keep pushing forward, and evolving cancer research."

"I was expecting him not to help me," said Kim L. O'Neill, PhD, Brigham Young University (BYU) professor of microbiology and molecular biology, who mentors Xiao in the lab and at AACR. "But he turned out to be very sharp and bright. He has a vast knowledge regarding cancer DNA damage. He brought his own ideas."

They found significant differences, they said, between the treated ammonium nitrate samples and controls in Raji and HepG2 (P<0.001). Apoptosis occurred in Raji and HepG2 cells not exposed to ultraviolet light when they were exposed to high concentrations of ammonium nitrate (200 µg/ml and 400 µg/ml) for 1 hour, they wrote. However, apoptosis decreased significantly after ultraviolet exposure at those concentrations.

Xiao, born in California, said he witnessed the grief of classmates in elementary school after a teacher died of cancer. He recalls a few years later thinking about cancer and exhaust pollution as he peered at the brown haze one day. The emotion of grief mixed with the intellect of discovery toward research about cancer and the environment, he said.

His list of awards and achievements is impressive and already lengthy: Xiao was named a finalist of the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair this month; he placed first in the International American Protégé Piano Competition, which led to Carnegie Hall.

In addition to recognition in science, math, and music, Xiao has accolades for leadership, volunteering, and "moral character," according to his websites, specifically the Kiwanis-sponsored Hope of America Award.

And he's not bad at swimming, either, he said.

But what he finds the most interesting, he said, is being in the lab, sometimes past midnight even though he's up at 5 a.m. to practice piano before heading off to school.

"When Kim O'Neill said he was bringing a kid to the lab, I was willing to teach," said Albert V. Helsing, 25, an undergrad at BYU in neuroscience with whom Xiao collaborated on another study presented at AACR. "But he could speak to us on our level with an understanding of what we do. He came very well prepared. The more we found out about him, the more we learned that he does all these extracurricular activities.

"And he's very humble about it."

But does Xiao have time for fun?

"That's what we thought!" Helsing said. "It's fun for him because of what he's doing in the lab. He talks with all of us, and we know what he's talking about. He's with friends. He fits into the lab. He likes when there's a challenge with what he's thinking. He thrives on that."

And he doesn't just do science, Helsing pointed out, shaking his head as he calls Xiao's time management "amazing."

"He's still having fun with the swim team. He's outgoing and he's out there," said Helsing, a married father of a new baby boy. "He's more disciplined than I was."

Like most teenagers, Xiao shuffles his feet and answers politely when asked 20 questions: His parents come from China, he has a brother, 12, who shares his gifts and talents. But about piano or his research, he is direct, without pause, and ageless.

"He loves talking about his research," Helsing said. "He talks about 'do what you love, do what your passion is, you can make a difference in people's lives, cancer is devastating.'"

The authors reported no disclosures.

Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD Emeritus Professor, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

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